smerre01

Well Corolla, I am right there with you on the exhaust leak, mine has two leaks. Started last week. One is the flex pipe on the front pipe section the other is a bad gasket between two of the couplings half way down the pipe, unfortunately the bolts are friggin' rusted solid, I can't break them loose. Sucks......

Just did new tires, brakes all the way around, timing belt, water pump, drive belts, hoses, coolant flush, all new filters, changed oil, and fixed the air supply mixture motor on the interior, lol, and that was last weekend. Now I have to change the spark plugs tomorrow, find out about a new exhaust system, and service the transmission. Hopefully will also find time to get a new antenna mast as mine has quit going all the way down. When it rains it pours.....

ngreen1980

Hey,

Newbie here. I've had my 2000 rx300 since 2005. got it from my uncle due to the fact I knew he took care of it. I'm starting to have an exhuast issue. It's gotten worse over the last year. I crawled under there the other day but cant really see any whole. It sounds as if its coming from the front of the exhaust but i cant be sure because I cant see it. Is there any high fail parts downt there that i should inspect further? Also on a different note. Over the last year I've noticed that I have a very bad whining problem coming from one of my pullies. I dont know a whole lot about engines so I dont know exactly what the pully is for. But if your looking at the engine it will be on the left side. It only comes on with A/C or fan on. I;ve checked to make sure it is actually rotating and it is, but none the less its whining like crazy. Any Ideas. I need help. I know if I take car of this car it will last another 150-200k miles. I live in Italy so I cant just take it down the street to get it looked at by someone a little more experienced. PLEASE HELP.

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

I can sympathize with you not being able to take it down the street. I lived in Mexico for 6 years and except for a few things with Toyota and some independent groups, it was my uncle, my cousins and to some extent the service manual and our tools and garage. Not easy to start, but in the end it was a lot of fun.

Off the manifold, see photo below, where it is welded there can also be a crack. There is one other area that I will show in the next photo as far as exhaust.

Now, as far as other areas underneath there, you really just want to make sure you have no leaks (except water from AC system) of any kind of lubricant.

As far as the pulleys, I get a bit of whine on occasion, but it was way more prevalent when I last had the belts changed out back in Dec. 2004, though my cousin Antonio took them off back in Jan. 2006 when I had the URD crank pulley installed. There is something you can buy in auto parts stores called belt dressing. I know BMW dealers in Mexico used to sell this stuff, so even if you don't have a Toyota or Lexus nearby that might be a possibility. The other thing is to adjust the tension of the belts themselves. See this post by our good colleague TunedRX300, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=272697

Lexmex

A source of constant irritation for me with the exhaust was this exhaust joint in front of the main catalytic converter below the vehicle. It has two 14 mm bolts that need to be tightened. But they can get loose and make clicking sound upon acceleration after being stopped. I got fed up with it and eventually had it cut off and went through not one, but two modifications to get it the way I wanted.

What I would do to check the exhaust is start the vehicle and then check the length of the piping to see where any heat might be coming out.

ngreen1980

Lexmex I appreciate the help. I will take a look at what you suggested for the exhaust.

As far as the whine I pretty positive its not the belt. I admit I dont know everything about cars...but I have turned a wrench a few times. I truley believe its the pulley itself. I watched pretty closely to make sure the belts werent slipping. I was hoping for that because thats a way easier fix than a pulley. Anything else you can suggest would be great. Ill try to post a pick of the pulley in question tomorrow.

ngreen1980

Lexmex,

Actually now that I read the addition post you posted from our good colleague TunedRX300. I think I may try that anyway. My A/C work fine cools the car down just fine...so hopefully thats all it is. That belt was replaced at 90,000 I got the car at 95 with no whine and now it whines so it makes sense that it may need some tensioning. Thanks again.. if that doesnt work I'm sure Ill be asking more questions.

Lexmex

Some people get tranmission whine on this vehicle.

smerre01

If you truly feel the whine is coming from the belt area on your car, I would check the belt tensioner. I have seen the tensioner make a whine noise numerous times on vehicles in the past. The OEM part # is 1350520010 and should run around 90.00 or so depending on where you get it from for the part.

salimshah

You can go to any exhaust shop to take care of the exhaust problems.

AC clutch/bearing may be at the end of life. Or it could be just the belt. A/C shop can tell you what is going on.

Italy should have no shortage of specialized shops.

The timing belt has tension idler but that is behind the cover.

Salim

81corolla

Just wanted to finish up this thread.

I purchased a 2.25" x 6" flex pipe but the muffler shop ended up using a 2" x 6" flex pipe. Also the flex pipe I purchased had the 2" length nipples on each end which made the pipe harder to fit.

My point is if you purchase your own pipe, go with the ones w/o the long ends on it.

Anyway, they used a ROL Manufacturing FT20006BI-C Flex Tube Blank w/Inner Braid.

My photo shows it's not as clean as LexMex's job but no leaks and if I get 8 years out of it like the original, I have nothing to complain about.

I also replaced a couple of gaskets 31374 and 31555. The bolts used for 31374 are 14mm.

Thanks for all your help.

81corolla

14mm bolts used for 31374.

81corolla

You can see the shiny silver gasket 31555 in the middle.
My old one had worn down to practically nothing.

That's a new spring bolt kit too - I think it's 35129.

ParkLewis

Hi guys, I know this is an old thread but thought I'd add to it. I just developed the same leak from the flex connector underneath the engine. I bought a replacement front pipe and it has the flex connector built-in, similar to the OEM set-up. The part I bought is Walker #53421. It probably is not as good as the OEM one, but Walker is a name brand and if I get 3-5 years out of it I'm happy. The pipe was only $58 on Amazon with free shipping. I ordered the two gaskets for it as well, also from Amazon, for around $6 each. I plan to swap it in soon but the challenge will be removing the 10 year old exhaust bolts! Those are never fun!

I'll post up when I get it installed and let you guys know how the Walker piece fit.

salimshah

Please do. Remember to write about the quality ... stainless steel etc.

Also there are times when you just cut the old bolts out and put in new ones. Based on my experience on GS exhaust, some times the nuts are spot welded. So make sure before you cut off the bolt.

Also you will have to create room. With the engine bolted in, you need to work from tail end and make sure the hangers will allow you move the whole system by an inch (my estimate).

Salim

lexus300rb

On my 2000 RX I replaced the pipe (with flex) and gaskets that I bought from NAPA. I think everything was under $100 total. After a hour's work everything is fine again. Did this a couple years ago.